Edgewater Mayor Diezel Depew, Florida's youngest mayor, has been accused of assaulting a rival supporter with a campaign sign outside a New Smyrna Beach polling site. Depew, 22, denies the accusation, stating it is a "totally unfounded political" attack.
The incident occurred Friday, just before early voting for the mayoral primary began. Depew was reportedly at the public library, which was being used as an early voting site, when a supporter of his rival, Wayne McCloskey, approached him. According to veteran Donna McDavid, who has ALS and supports McCloskey, Depew moved his campaign sign, and it struck her on the nose and chest.
"He chose to put it against me," McDavid told the Daytona Beach News Journal. "He knows me personally. … He was pushing that sign into me."
McDavid filed a battery report, but no charges have been filed, and Depew has not been arrested. A New Smyrna Beach police report indicated the responding officer could not confirm if McDavid was struck.
Depew, who was elected mayor in 2022 at age 18, described the complaint as a "false police report." He told Fox35, "This did not occur. She moved toward me. I’ve never been accused of being aggressive in my life. This is just a baseless character attack."
This is not the first controversy for Depew. During his first term, videos surfaced that appeared to show him drinking underage and rapping along to lyrics containing racial slurs. He is running for re-election with a platform focused on reducing utility costs for the city's approximately 24,000 residents.
Depew's previous mayoral race in 2022 also involved sign-related disputes. His opponent, Mike Ignasiak, was charged with petit theft for allegedly stealing Depew's campaign signs. That case was dropped in February 2023 after Ignasiak agreed to pay fines and complete community service or donate to charity.